Plato’s tripartite theory of Soul –

In the Republic and the Phaedrus, Plato describes the soul as divided into three parts,
labeled as appetitive, spirited, and rational parts. He offers this division partly as a way of
explaining our psychological complexity and partly to provide a justification for philosophy
as the highest of all pursuits, because it corresponds to the highest part of the soul—the
rational part. In proposing a tripartite soul, Plato acknowledges and seeks to explain the fact
that we all experience inner conflict from time to time. We would be justified in seeing this
theory as the starting point for psychology. However, Plato’s theory seeks not only to explain
inner conflict but also to present the rational part of the soul as superior. Philosophy is
essentially the practice of refining and foregrounding our rationality.
The basic plan of the Republic is to draw a systematic analogy between the operation of
society as a whole and the life of any individual human being. So Plato supposed that people
exhibit the same features, perform the same functions, and embody the same virtues that city-
states do. Applying the analogy in this way presumes that each of us, like the state, is a
complex whole made up of several distinct parts, each of which has its own proper role. But
Plato argued that there is ample evidence of this in our everyday experience. When faced
with choices about what to do, we commonly feel the tug of contrary impulses drawing us in
different directions at once, and the most natural explanation for this phenomenon is to
distinguish between distinct elements of our selves.
Thus, the analogy states that in addition to the physical body, which corresponds to the land,
buildings, and other material resources of a city, every human being’s soul includes three
parts  that correspond to the three classes (rulers, soldiers, other people) of citizen within the
state, each of them contributing in their own way to the successful operation of the whole
person.
 The rational soul/part (mind or intellect) is the thinking part within each of us, which
discerns what is real and not merely apparent, judges what is true and what is false,
and wisely makes the rational decisions in accordance with which human life is most
properly lived. This is the part of us that thinks, analyzes, looks ahead, rationally
weighs options, and tries to gauge what is best and truest overall. The reasoning
section of the soul is responsible for the thinking things such as math and numbers.
More importantly it is the part of the soul that seeks knowledge and education, the
reason part of the soul is why we are able to think things through and then make
calculated and choices. This part of the soul is what makes philosophy possible,
allowing us to think critically and analyze things from different perspectives. This
part of the soul can be seen every time we get curious about something and seek
answers instead of just accepting it as it is.
 The spirited soul /part (will or volition), on the other hand, is the active portion; its
function is to carry out the dictates of reason in practical life, courageously doing
whatever the intellect has determined to be best. This is the part of us that loves to
face and overcome great challenges, the part that can steel itself to adversity, and that
loves victory, winning, challenge, and honour. (Plato's use of the term "spirited" here
is not the same as "spiritual." He means "spirited" in the same sense that we speak of
a high spirited horse, for example, one with lots of energy and power.)
 Finally, the appetitive soul (emotion or desire) is the portion of each of us that wants
and feels many things, most of which must be deferred in the face of rational pursuits
if we are to achieve a salutary degree of self-control. This part of the soul pays close
 attention to our physical selves. It aims at seeking the physical pleasures or keeping us
away from physical displeasure. A great example of this is how we all wish to be pain
free, eat, sleep, and even our urges for material things which the reason and spiritual
parts gain nothing from.
In the Phaedrus, Plato presented this theory even more graphically, comparing the rational
soul to a charioteer whose vehicle is drawn by two horses, one powerful but unruly (desire)
and the other disciplined and obedient (will).
On Plato's view, then, a human being is properly said to be just when the three souls perform
their proper functions in harmony with each other, working in consonance for the good of the
person as a whole.

Rational Soul (Thinking)
Wisdom

Spirited Soul (Willing)
Courage

Appetitive Soul (Feeling)
Moderation

As in a well-organized state, the justice of an individual human being emerges only from the
interrelationship among its separate components.
Plato's account of a tripartite division within the self has exerted an enormous influence on
the philosophy of human nature in the Western tradition. Although few philosophers whole-
heartedly adopt his theory of three distinct souls, nearly everyone acknowledges some
differentiation among the functions of thinking, willing, and feeling. Perhaps any adequate
view of human life requires some explanation or account of how we incorporate intellect,
volition, and desire in the whole of our existence.
In the context of his larger argument, Plato's theory of human nature provides the foundation
for another answer to the question of why justice is better than injustice. On the view
developed here, true justice is a kind of good health, attainable only through the harmonious
cooperative effort of the three souls. In an unjust person, on the other hand, the disparate
parts are in perpetual turmoil, merely coexisting with each other in an unhealthy, poorly-
functioning, dis-integrated personality. Plato developed this theme in greater detail in the
final books of The Republic.